Making the Most of Your Cancer Care

by Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, and Richard Lee, MD

Eat at least five servings of fruits
and vegetables daily.

While going through treatment,
people with cancer
often ask, “What can I do
to help?” The answer is to adopt a healthy
lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle might help
you feel stronger and fitter. It also may
help support the cancer treatments so
that they work better. We encourage all
people with cancer to do all they can to
strengthen their body’s natural defenses
to improve health, well-being, and
clinical outcomes.

Eat Well
Diet plays an important
role during and after cancer treatment.
A healthy diet can help manage treatment
side effects, improve outcomes,
and lower cancer risk.

♦ Choose to eat mostly plants
Eat at
least five servings of fruits and vegetables
daily. Choose a variety of colors and
cooking methods. Eat fiber-rich foods,
such as beans, peas, lentils, nuts, and
seeds. Whole fruits and vegetables have
more fiber and less sugar than juices or
canned foods. Limit red meat, and limit
meat portions to less than four ounces
per meal (size of a deck of cards). Avoid
high-fat and highly processed meats, such
as hot dogs, bologna, bacon, and salami.

♦ Choose healthy fats that help the
body fight disease
Increase omega-3
and monounsaturated fats in your diet.
Good sources are olive and canola oils,
olives, nuts, avocado, and cold-water
fish, such as salmon, sardines, trout,
and tuna. Limit saturated fats and large
amounts of omega-6 fatty acids. These
are found in fatty meats, high-fat dairy
products (such as whole milk, cheese,
and butter), and fried foods. Avoid trans
fats typically found in packaged snack
foods, fried foods, and shortening. Do
not buy foods with “hydrogenated” or
“partially hydrogenated” listed on the
food label.

♦ Change unhealthy eating habits
Learn to recognize when you feel hungry
and when you feel full. Eat fewer
high-calorie, low-nutrient foods like
sodas, fruit-flavored drinks, candy, and
processed foods. If you want something
sweet, eat a small portion of a high-quality
homemade dessert or a small
piece of dark chocolate. Limit alcohol
to no more than two drinks per day for
men and one drink per day for women.

Exercise Often
Physical activity
includes all movement, and it is important
for good health. Exercise helps
us maintain weight, lower disease risk,
fight fatigue, and improve overall health.
While exercise may be tough at first,
it will get easier over time.

Dr. Richard Lee

Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate
to hard physical activity every day.
Judge the level of an activity by how
easy it is to talk. While doing moderate
activity, you should be able to talk,
but not sing. With harder activities,
you should only be able to talk in short
phrases. Always talk with your doctor
before starting an exercise program.

It is important to choose activities
that fit your lifestyle and will motivate
you. A few examples include walking
or jogging, swimming, dancing, gardening
or housework, weight lifting, and
golf (without a cart).

Be as lean as possible within the
range of your normal body weight.
A healthy diet and physical activity are
the keys to weight loss for people who
are overweight or obese.

Manage Stress
Stress occurs when
a demand is placed upon your body and
mind that exceeds your ability to cope.
A demand can range from actual physical
danger, to the excitement of buying
a home, to a family disagreement. Long-term
stress may increase cancer risk,
promote tumor growth, and interfere
with treatment.

It is healthy to practice stress management
for at least 10 minutes every day.
This is good for your body and mind.
Here are a few tips to manage stress:

Use relaxation techniques, such as
guided imagery, meditation, and yoga.

Exercise often.

Add humor and laughter to your life.

Have quiet time (prayer, reading,
listening to music).

Find a hobby.

Meet with a counselor to discuss
coping skills for managing stress.

Accept Help and Support from
Others
Having a network of friends,
family, neighbors, and others in your life
to help and comfort you is important for
good health. During your cancer treatment,
you might feel afraid, alone, or
confused. Having people around who
care about you can help you feel better.
Several studies have found that cancer
survivors with the most social support
had better quality of life and lived longer
than those with the least amount of social
support.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Dr. Lorenzo Cohen is professor
and director of the Integrative Medicine
Program at The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.
Dr. Richard Lee is an assistant professor and
the medical director of the Integrative Medicine
Program at MD Anderson.

This article was published in Coping® with Cancer magazine,
July/August
2011.